Mended
by SwampTreader
Summary: Katara shows up on Zuko's doorstep, dirty, worn and with a baby strapped on her back...


**WARNING! I MAKE AANG TO BE A VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY EVIL AND BAD GUY IN THIS! I love the man and I know this is so OOC its ridiculous, but how else is a woman supposed to exterminate plot-bunnies than by writing them. IM SORRY, I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE! OH! ALSO IMPORTANT! I was inspired by akaiiko's Timeline. I find that after re-reading that story, that this one is like so similar its almost a copy. And I REALLY REALLY did not intend or even know that this is how it would turn out. So I didn't copy that story really honestly! I promise! (Her's is better anyways) its all mere coincidence!**

"Firelord Zuko," a messenger announced across the throne room, right in the middle of a meeting, "Your presence is required immediately in the north wing."

"Why?" Zuko growled. _Don't kill the messenger, don't kill the messenger._ It had better be good if he was being interrupted during a counsel with his advisors.

"It's Lady Katara," the messenger squeaked.

In a flurry of imperial robes Zuko left the dais and swept down the stairs. "What do you mean? Is she alright?" The Firelord asked in a hushed voice as he intercepted the messenger. Before he could answer, Zuko waved a arm, signaling the end of the meeting. Its not like they were accomplishing anything anyways.

"She appears to be-"

"Good. Thank you." His heart was beating wildly as he practically ran through the halls of his palace. He had not seen Katara in years, nor had he heard from her. He received letters from Aang rarely, and the Avatar had sounded not quite as friendly, not quite as warm as he used to. It had made Zuko wonder if something was wrong. Two years ago, when Katara still wrote regularly, the strokes of her characters became messy and rushed although she spoke of how well she was doing with Aang. But then, all of a sudden her letters just stopped. Aang assured him everything was fine and that they were even trying to start a family. Still, Zuko thought it a bit odd that Katara would just quit communicating. As time passed and Aang became a little more cold in his messages, a pit had formed in Zuko's stomach, like something was wrong.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her. She was still beautiful but she looked exhausted. Her hair was limp and dull, her shoes coated in dried mud and dark crescents under the blue eyes that had once been so vivid. He had feared this all along. He knew something had been wrong and he didn't look into it because matters of the home were just that; they stayed in the home. His lungs had constricted painfully and he was sure his heart had stopped beating when he laid eyes on her. "Katara," he breathed. She gave him a weak smile, a corner of her mouth twitching in response. Her blue dress was filthy and she looked like she hadn't had a good meal in weeks. "Katara," he said again, a little louder this time, as if saying it would make her more real.

"Hi Zuko," she said weakly.

"What are you doing here?" He blurted. Katara glanced at the staring servants nervously as though she did not want to speak in front of them.

"I-" A little mew cut through the quiet. Zuko's eyebrows furrowed and Katara frowned a little as she took off the bag she was wearing on her shoulders. Inside the specially designed pack was a child, hardly two months old, most surely still nursing.

"You- you're a mother?" He choked. "Why are traveling, Katara? He's too young to be-"

"She," the waterbender interrupted, taking her baby from the watertribe pack.

"She's too young to be traveling. How did you even get here? Is Aang with you?" He asked, looking over her shoulder for the monk.

"No. He-" she paused and squeezed her eyes shut tightly, "he made me leave. Made _us_ leave."

"What!?" He bellowed, the air in the hall becoming uncomfortably hot. "Why!?"

"Zuko please," Katara pleaded quietly, glancing at the gawking servants and guards, holding the baby closer to her chest. He pinched the bridge of his nose and almost blew smoke from his mouth. He walked closer, only feet from her now. This close he could see how her cheeks had sunken in a little, her skin paler than he could ever remember seeing it. And then he saw it, a bruise on the underside of her jaw. He felt like he couldn't breath and he hoped to Agni that it wasn't what it looked like, but he knew, Zuko knew exactly what it was. He knew this would happen sooner or later and he hadn't done a thing to stop it, and now a child was involved.

"La Min, please show Lady Katara the baths and assist her into new attire as well. Give her anything she asks, understood? Her word is mine." The maidservant nodded and led Katara down the hall, a pair of blue eyes staring over a shoulder at him. When she was out of earshot Zuko snarled at everyone to stop staring at get back to work. He strode through the corridors to the royal family's wing. He summoned for the royal physician and waved him into his office moments later.

"I want you to record every mark you find on her, every scar, every bruise, dismiss nothing. She'll refuse any kind of medical attention unless her hand is forced so make something up, "palace rules" or something. Tell me everything you discover."

"Yes my Lord," the wizened man spoke softly. He was older, perhaps in his sixties and had proven his competence many times over in Zuko's lifetime. The doctor bowed low and started to leave. "Oh," he said, halting and turning around slowly, " and the child as well?"

"Yes, the child too."

Zuko sent servants to make sure a guest room in his wing of the palace was prepared, along with the nursery. If Katara had traveled on foot all the way from her and Aang's home in the Earth Kingdom, he didn't think he would ever hear a cry for help as loud and clear as that. Katara was not one to admit she needed anyone's help, but here she was on Zuko's doorstep, ragged and tired, a child strapped on her back. The next three hours felt like forever to Zuko, broken only by the sound of a shrieking child around the corner in the nursery. He had rushed to the room, unused since he was a child, hoping to find Katara there but alas, she wasn't. The maid had told him that the royal physician had examined the baby, found her to be healthy and sent her here so he could speak with the mother at length. That had sent Zuko's blood pressure sky rocketing, fearing that something was seriously wrong with his friend. He had stuck around the nursery, watching in curiosity the way the maid took care of the baby. She was a squirmy, squishy-looking thing, something the Firelord had no experience with. Lucky for him, that's what the maidservant was for. The baby looked like her mother, dark skin and blue eyes, possibly the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on besides her dam. He was fascinated at how such a little child could hold it's head up so well. The baby whimpered and cried most of the time he was there, unused to being separate from her mother. However, the maid had a knack for babies and quieted her enough so that she could be rocked to sleep.

It was then that Zuko left for his personal rooms again to await the royal physician. He could not focus on any paperwork he thought might distract him.

The physician stalked in a few minutes later and dropped a thick leather folder under Zuko's nose on his desk with a slap. "I find it hard to believe in all my years of doctoring abused women that I would ever come across the one the Avatar brutalized." Fire flared from the hearth, sending burning embers fluttering around the room. Zuko knew it was Aang all along, that something wasn't right but now that he had confirmation of it, he was beyond furious. Zuko flipped the leather open and had to look away from what he found. There was a rough drawing of a woman's silhouette with ugly black ink marking up the picture. "And those are just the bruises. This has been going on for a long time," the doctor said turning to a new page of the same drawing with sharp lines marking up the shoulders and calves of the picture. "These are the fresh lacerations." Zuko knew exactly what had caused those, he sported a few of his own from when he was pursuing Aang. They had come from a precise and very sharp snap of an air whip. "And these," the physican said as he moved the paper aside to yet another silhouette drawing, "are all the scars. Give or take from your friends lifestyle, many of these are simply old wounds, but the ones in blue ink are the one inflicted over the past year. Older than that scars become the same and are indistinguishable from any other mark, even those made from childhood.

"Is there anything else?" The Firelord asked through barley parted teeth.

He gave a mirthless laugh. "This is only the beginning my Leige. The old man leaned against the desk, supporting his weight on the heels of his palms. He pushed the pictures aside in a messy pile and pointed to a diagram of the human skeleton. "Some of the breaks were easy to find, like these three ribs," he said as Zuko spotted marks symbolizing two cracked ribs on the left and one on the right. "When she came in her jaw was slightly dislocated, but that was fixable enough." Both Zuko and the doctor rubbed their brows in exasperation. "Her fingers were the easiest ones to find. Our mighty Avatar has managed to break seven of her fingers, her pinky and ring fingers repeadatley, maybe three times." Zuko had to lean back against his chair and force the bile down in his throat. He had broken men's bones before, Agni, had his own broken, and it was always a sickening feeling and sound. He couldn't fathom how a man could break his wife's fingers and more than once at that.

"Why didn't she tell me sooner? Why didn't she write me?" He asked aloud, feeling guilt settle in is stomach like a lead ball.

"Abused women usually never leave or even indicate that anything is wrong in their relationship. I've found, when I did charity work around Caldera city and the outlaying villages, that they have an irrational notion that the abuse is their fault. They feel they deserve it or they have misplaced faith in their men that they really didn't mean it and would never strike them again. Tell me Firelord, did you ever notice Avatar Aang use physical violence against Lady Katara in your travels?"

"Never. Maybe that's why I'm so confused. None of this makes sense."

"It never does," the white-haired man sighed. "Now, there were some that were harder to find. Her elbow was shattered at one point but it healed surprisingly well, I take it Lady Katara is a healer?" It was more of a statement. "However, she did not succeed in fixing it properly because of the lingering stiffness she suffers from."

"Did she tell you all this?" Zuko asked in masked disbelief. Katara was never one to admit her weaknesses. Not usually at least, and certainly not to a perfect stranger.

"Agni, no," the doctor chuckled. "After years of Practice you learn to notice the signs of ailments simply by the way a patient moves. I noticed a slight limp, she favored her right foot. I managed to coax out of her that it had been broken once. She did not say how it was damaged but we all know how. Her left wrist was broken as well, fairly recently actually, within the last few months I'd say." He took a moment to pause. "If it weren't for her healing abilities your friend would have been dead long ago, Firelord. Now while I don't doubt her abilities, she is a master afterall, it's easy to tell she did not do a perfect job. They were patch jobs at best. I suspect Avatar Aang put limits on how much she was allowed to bend."

Zuko couldn't believe all this. He felt like he would be sick but that was not the composure of a Firelord, to lean over and wretch over unpleasant thoughts, so he refrained from emptying his stomach. He would have been furious, probably burning a war path to Aang's front door, but he was in too much shock to think of much else than Katara and the increasing nausea in his belly. The physician was a talented man, he would give him that. It always blew his mind when the doctor would find the correct endings to hunches and assumptions based on a patients condition. Zuko did not doubt if Aang was capable of all this that he would limit her bending as well. "For broken bones that about does it. A few of her teeth are chipped, nothing major, hardly noticeable. I actually find it quite unusual that more damage was not done to her face. Abusive husbands tend to aim for the most sensitive parts of the body, the mouth, the eyes for example. I supposed the Avatar simply wanted something pretty to look at when he was done." At that bile did rise in Zuko's throat and he had to swallow it back down. "Are you well Firelord Zuko?" The man asked upon seeing Zuko screw his eyes shut and his color fade three shades.

"Yes, fine. Continue."

"After some I asked some questions I'm strongly led to believe she had suffered from internal bleeding at some point as well. It's a common side effect with this magnitude of abuse but she makes me believe she suffered from it more than once." The doctor sighed here and looked everywhere else but at his Firelord. "What I'm going to tell you next Prince Zuko is of a very sensitive nature." No one called him Prince anymore, except when it was a very serious personal matter. Afterall, this man had known him since his conception. Zuko braced himself and impatiently said "well go on then."

"In the examination I checked her very thoroughly including a feminine examine." He paused and Zuko's heart froze, his blood running cold. He knew it was coming before it was ever even uttered into existence. "Lady Katara was subject to very violent sexual acts, the most likely of these, rape." A second of earth-tilting silence. "Repeadatley." Zuko could not restrain the strangled noise that came from his mouth, a cross of a dry sob and a shout of rage and pain. He had to get out of here before he burned everything to the ground. He stood up so abrubtly that his heavy wooden chair fell backwards with a thump. He tore his robes form his arms and had peeled out of shirt by the time he barged through the door to his personal courtyard. Everything was hot and burning within seconds. He did not notice the burns he accidently inflicted on himself in his fit of rage or the warm tears running down his face. He felt like an unrestrained, out of control teenager again. He had not had such an outburst since the early years of his reign. He was twenty five, at his prime and he was absolutely losing control.

* * *

Some time later, when he had gotten a hold of himself and the physician had returned later that afternoon, he informed the Firelord of the last bits of horror Katara had to endure. Zuko was told this was not her first child, she had been pregnant twice before. Both miscarriages, one natural and the other forced by the Avatars hand. Katara was not infertile in anyway but with the constant abuse and mental strain her chi got so twisted within her body that it made getting pregnant harder than it should have been. When Zuko asked the doctor quietly about the little girl in the nursery, he said she was as healthy as an ostrich-horse and that Katara had been a phenomenal mother, that not only was she an emotionally nurturing mother, but her body had been fashioned as though she were destined by the spirits to have a whole village of children. She was the ideal mother. Zuko thanked the physician and dismissed him.

Zuko sought out Katara's room that evening, it was just down the hall from his own. He knocked and when there was no answer he pushed the door open. "Katara?" He asked, stepping inside.

"In here, Zuko," she said from another room off her sitting room. He walked into her bedroom and saw her in a far corner with her daughter, ratting a blue toy over her. He stood to the side, watching his best friend and her child. "I wanted to thank you for everything you did for us today. I haven't felt this good in a long time," she said giving him a quick look over her shoulder. Zuko could see where her hair had been washed an pinned back with a simple ornament. Her skin was clean and she wore a fresh red robe. The baby looked very much the same, washed and in a pink, short dress.

"No need to thank me, Katara. It's my pleasure." There was a somewhat awkward silence for a moment, only broken by the happy gurgles of the baby. "What's her name?" He asked sitting down beside his waterbending friend.

"Kya, after my mother."

"That's a good name," He said.

The pair sat, Katara playing with Kya and Zuko sitting beside her watching. "Listen, Zuko, I don't want you to worry about me. I'm ok, we're ok. I just need a place to crash for a few days and then I'll be out of your hair."

"And where exactly would you go?" He asked incredulously. "To the South Pole, back to a place that doesn't really feel like home?" Katara looked at her lap and let out a shaky breath. He didn't hadn't intended to sound so harsh but he was so angry at Aang. And it felt good to get angry. He had a lot of the hot emotion burning under his skin and no amount of firebending would sate it.

"I don't know, ok. I- I just needed to get away from there. Aang- he threatened to hurt my child, Zuko. _My baby_" she choked. "I didn't know what else to do. I tried to tell him I was sorry but-"

"Sorry for what, Katara? You didn't do anything!" He snarled his voice raising in volume. "No woman deserves that kind of abuse!"

"Sorry for not being what he wanted! I wasn't what he thought I would be!"

"What are you talking about? Just give me a straight answer!" He bellowed. A loud wail cut through the air as Kya began to scream and cry.

"You should just leave, Zuko," Katara bit out harshly, scooping her child into her arms. Before he stormed from the room, his robes whirling around him, he caught a glimpse of a tear rolling down his friend's cheek. He moved to say he was sorry but somehow she felt his hesitation and demanded he just go.

* * *

The following morning Zuko did not touch his breakfast, too impatient to do so. He wanted to talk to Katara, tell her how sorry he was but he didn't want to wake the baby either with his early, morning summons. He went to the indoor training room and blasted away at the walls, hoping to burn off the bubbling anger at the surface of his being before he talked to her. He didn't want to yell at her again. He hadn't meant to do it in the first place and now he felt very guilty. He scared a baby for Agni's sake. He worked out for hours into late morning, and than bathed so he wouldn't smell like a hog-monkey. His hair was still damp when he finally decided to go see if Katara was awake. He knocked on the grand door softly and waited, shuffling from foot to foot like some nervous teenager about to get a good tongue-lashing. He deserved one. Katara opened the door a crack to see who it was and then pushed it the rest of the way open to allow him entrance. "I'm sorry," he blurted before she even shut the door behind him. "I was just so mad at him. I wasn't upset with you and I had no right to yell at you. You didn't do anything wrong and I'm sorry for scaring Kya too," he kept blabbering until Katara held a hand up for him to stop.

"It's ok, Zuko, really. Don't worry about it."

"But-"

"Really," she smiled. "I understand and I'm not upset. You don't have to apologize." Zuko let out a defeated sigh and then walked over to where Katara was sitting on a couch under a large picture window overlooking the gardens. She picked up a cup of tea before she settled into the crook of the couch. The Firelord took a seat at the other end and rubbed his forehead with his palm.

"You're welcome to stay here as long as you need. All the facilities are yours to use, feel free to wander the halls if you like, tour the gardens, whatever you want."

"Thankyou," she said softly gazing out the window. There was a comfortable silence. "It's been so long since I got to just sit and relax for a moment. Between traveling and Kya, there was always so much to do."

"Where is she anyway?"

"Sleeping," she said motioning to a little pile of blankets on the massive bed.

"If you need anything, just tell the servants what it is. Or if you need someone to talk to, I'm always here."

"You're such a good friend, Zuko," she said looking at him with sleepy, grateful eyes.

* * *

Katara handed a squirming Kya over to Zuko who received her awkwardly. He had never held a baby before. "Just watch her h-" Katara began to say. Zuko cradled Kya's head in his palm, breathlessly staring at the beautiful little creature in his hands. Her eyes were the most lovely shade of smoky blue he had ever seen, perhaps even more striking than her mothers'. Wispy black hair covered her tiny head, tufts pushed up by the gentle breeze. Her cheeks were full and round, her lips a perfect shape. Kya's hands, damp from slobber, reached up and took hold of a little "dragon whisker" flowing from the chest of his robes. She stared up at him as if searching his face for something. The mighty Firelord was in shock that the little child did not cry out in fear from his vicious scar. It would not have been the first time it happened, often toddlers or young children shied away from him on the rare occasion he was around them. Zuko saw more in the pools of blue than he thought possible. He saw nothing but unadultered trust and untainted innocence. It was the most comforting thing he'd ever seen in his entire life.

"She's so beautiful, Katara," he whispered, voice hoarse from surprise. How could anyone cast out such a thing? He had at first wondered how someone could force Katara to leave their presence for she was such a good, lovely person, now he was absolutely dumbfounded. How had Aang stomached the command of sending them away, sending Kya away?

"Thank you," she breathed back. He finally pried his eyes away from the child's and looked up at Katara. "I think she looks like Sokka," she chuckled softly.

"No. She doesn't look like your numb-skull brother. She looks like you." Katara laughed again and leaned back against the trunk of the old cherry blossom tree. They sat like for a long time, just talking quietly, unwilling to shatter the peace. Before they knew it Kya had dropped off into sleep. Zuko smiled at the snoozing baby, a tiny bit of drool on the corner of her mouth.

"Do you wanna spar?" Katara asked suddenly.

"Yeah, sure," he said peeling out of outer robe with one hand, shuffling Kya from one arm to the other. He folding it roughly once it was on the grass beside him. Katara stripped out of her clothes, only in her undergarments and a thin red silk shift. She lay her robes down on top of Zuko's and he lay Kya on the soft pile. Katara was already in the center of the pond when Zuko caught up with her. He stood across from her, the water reaching his knees, waiting for her to make the first move. But she didn't, she just stood there. She glanced around the garden slowly, her eyes falling on the baby's sleeping form over Zuko's shoulder. She looked as though she wanted to say something. He had actually been noticing the want to speak something important for the last few days. She seemed as if she was in constant battle with herself, trying to decided if she should bother Zuko with her problems. Though he would never be burdened by her problems, he was her best friend and maybe even a little in love with her. Perhaps for a long time.

She gave a soft, mirthless chortle. "Kya was such an easy pregnancy," she said as though she were speaking to no one in particular, simply making a comment. "She never kicked too hard or made my stomach upset. The first baby was hard. I wasn't even three months along when I miscarried," she said sadly. "Aang was so happy when he found out I was pregnant. He couldn't stop talking about it and he did everything for me. He never let me lift a finger," she giggled, lost in a far-off memory. "We had tried so hard to get pregnant... a whole year until the first one came along. We were starting to worry if something was wrong with me. We had even gone to one of those new fertility clinics. It hurt when I lost it. I woke up in the middle of the night cramping, there wasn't much blood but I knew what was going on. I woke Aang up screaming that something was wrong. He rushed me to the air acolyte doctors but it was too late. They said it was just a fluke. He was never the same after that." She paused and glanced around at her surroundings, her eyes ghosting over Zuko as if he weren't even there. Let her cope, he thought. "He was more frustrated then usual, more tense. I didn't get out of bed for weeks. I was too sad. He was angry with me, blamed me for losing _his _baby. It was always _my _fault," tears started to brim in her eyes now. The dam had finally burst.

"I had just started getting out of my bed, my first full day back I guess, when he blew the first time. He told me he hated that I couldn't get pregnant and _stay_ pregnant. He told me I had a duty as his wife and as a savior of the world to help him restore his culture. He backed me up against the counter and shook me. It was the first time he ever laid a finger on me. I didn't think anything of it, honest, Zuko, I didn't." The Firelord was taken by surprise to hear her speak directly to him. "He was angry and I understood why. He let me go and started rampaging around the kitchen, throwing things and knocking over chairs. He was yelling so _loud. _I hadn't ever heard him that mad before and it scared me. _He _scared me." Katara's shoulders hunched and she squeezed her eyes shut. "He kept telling me it was my fault for losing the baby and that he couldn't believe he had married a woman so worthless. Then he stormed over and told me to suck it up and quit crying because I "didn't even want the baby in the first place." That wasn't true! It wasn't true! I wanted it, I did! I loved that baby so much and it wasn't fair! How could he accuse me of that!?" She was crying now, the water lapping at the bottoms of Zuko's rolled up pants.

"I told him to stop lying and that's when he slapped me. I- I couldn't believe what he'd done but he didn't stop. He smacked me around but never did anything more than that. At first. I didn't speak to him for days and he kept saying he was sorry, that he didn't mean any of it. And I believed him, Zuko. I _believed_ him!" She cried angrily. "After I accepted his apology he was wonderful for weeks. He babied me and he was so nice. We- we even started sleeping together again. But then when I didn't get pregnant after a month he got mad again. I was making him dinner and I had accidently spilled something on the floor and he snapped. He actually punched me that time. He kept hitting me and he kicked me. I didn't even defend myself because I thought it would be stupid since he was my _husband. _Every day he came home from teaching the air acolytes and he always found something I had done wrong. I didn't make the bed right or I didn't wash all the dishes that day. He hurt me every day! Every single day!" The water had become so cold that Zuko had lost feeling in his feet. "But he still insisted I lay with him and try to have airbender babies because that was the only reason he kept me around! When I didn't get pregnant he started sleeping with the acolytes. How could he betray me like that?" She whimpered. Zuko wanted to tell her he betrayed her the second he laid his hands on her, but held his tongue instead. "He caught me trying to leave one day and he beat me senseless, I couldn't even see straight. I never tried that again. He didn't let me write letters to my family anymore, just you. And he told me I had better tell you everything was great and that I was happy, or else.

"I thought I might have pregant again and I told him because I thought maybe he would stop hitting me but it turned out that I wasn't." The tortured young woman across from him was sobbing now, crying out in anger and bitter sadness. "That was the first night he forced me. But only after he broke my fingers so I couldn't fight back. It hurt so much. Everything hurt. He did that to me for months. Every night he forced me to sleep with him even if I begged him not to. He didn't realized how bad he was hurting me. I couldn't stand the agony anymore and I finally fought back. I didn't even know what had happened until I woke up the next morning. My side hurt so bad that I couldn't even get out of bed. I managed to sit up and saw all the bruises on my arms. I found that I was- that I was bleeding and when I tried to heal myself I found out I couldn't bend. He had blocked my chi sometime during the night. I got a horrible infection and I had to go to the clinic to get help. He was furious at that because he was afraid someone would find out what he was doing to me. He went in the room with me and didn't let the doctor look at me, just convinced him to give me something for fever and infection." The waves in the pond were lapping angrily at the water's edge and cresting white. Katara cried and yelled her frustrations, surprisingly not waking Kya. "And then when I got pregnant the second time he was so nice again. Normal even. He waited for a few months and then checked to see if it was going to be an airbender. I wished I never taught him how to heal. It was my fault he knew how to do it and knew that our baby wasn't going to be an airbender. I guess that chi patterns were wrong or something. He told me I was useless and- and-," she paused trying to collect herself, in hysterics now. "He hadn't ever hurt me so badly before. I thought I was going die, I was prepared, ready to die but I can't be so lucky can I?" She bit out. "I didn't die, but the baby did. And then when he tried the same thing with Kya, I bent her blood and tricked him. He couldn't tell what kind of bender she was going to be so he bided his time and treated me like a queen for the next seven months. And then, a week after she was born he told me to get out because he knew she wasn't going to be an airbender. He said he would keep the baby and bring her up right and not as a savage like "her mother." I think it was because she was the first one to make it to birth, I think he was actually too attached to her to get rid of her."

"I ran away one night while he was away with one of mistresses. I hate him so much! How could he do all this to me! How could he betray me and hurt me and take my children from me!" She screamed throwing her arm wildly a wave of water crashing into the Firelord, knocking him off his feet. He braced himself as her anger boiled over and suddenly he was in the wake of her rage. Water leapt around him, battering him and nearly knocking him off his feet again.

"Let it out, Katara. It's ok," he said, blocking the next wild attack with flames. The agonized mother threw her arms in the air and a wave of icy water splashed him right in the face, making him cough and sputter.

"He took my babies! He stole them from me!" He swept away the next ribbon of water coming at him as Katara lost control. He knew she needed this. He understood the feeling to be burning from the inside out with hatred and pain. A stray dagger of ice had caught his good cheek, a thin trail of blood trickling down his neck. He waited patiently for her to wear herself out and she did, eventually. She collapsed to her knees into the shallow water, crying softly but with no tears. Zuko let his arms fall to his sides slowly and trudged through the water to her, plates of ice bumping against his legs. He hauled her from the water and hugged her hard.

"I'm sorry, Katara. I'm sorry I didn't help you sooner, no one should have to go through what you did." Katara shook against his bare chest that was now raw from her endless volleys. He led her from the water and stopped her in the sunlight so she could thaw out from the icy chill she had created. Zuko grabbed the hem of her slip, now soaked through and transparent, and lifted it over her head and arms. He didn't think he'd ever seen her so vulnerable before, standing there in her underwear, soaked to the bone and shivering. She cradled her arms around herself and wiped her face with one hand. It was then he spotted the first scar on the underside of her arm. It was white and shined a fleshy silver in the sunlight. He took her arm gently and turned it over, finding a few more peppering her skin and then vanishing just at the crest of her shoulder. He turned her slowly and nearly cried out when he saw her back, defiled by harsh white and pink lines that crisscrossed all over her spine and shoulders. He'd never seen such damage before, not even on the back of the whipping boy his father had employed for Zuko when he was child. But he knew these marks in an instant, he had a few to match. An accurate, precisely crafted air whip had caused them. He screwed his eyes shut and yanked her into his arms. The Firelord crushed her to him and forced down the bile in his throat. He cupped the back of her head with his hand and swallowed salty tears that were sure to break free any moment. "I'm so, so sorry," he murmured into her hair.

* * *

The next few weeks treated Katara well. She gained back whatever weight she lost on her journey and she finally started to come out of her shell. Zuko had sent for Iroh the day after the pond incident and he was very therapeutic for Katara, like he was for most people. One day he had been passing through the corridor on his way to see Kya when he heard his uncle talking to a crying woman. He had peeked through the crack in the open door and frowned. Katara sat with her back to the door and Iroh was speaking gently to her about some proverb or something. The retired general leaned forward and swept the girl into a hug and muttered comforting things to her. Zuko was happy Katara was getting help, but he still hated to see her cry. He reluctantly turned away and continued on his mission to play with Kya.

The Fire Lord and the baby got along swimmingly. She was nothing but smiles and loud cries of joy when she saw him, she had not quite yet mastered giggling so the shrieking would just have to do for now. The big bad Fire Lord couldn't help but grin at the little slobbery, squishy thing when she did that. He would grab her out of the crib and toss her into the air, much to her delight. Then he would allow her to suck on his arm while she sat in his lap and he tossed bread to the turtle-ducks. Usually the hair on his arm would be matted and plastered to his skin with slobber by the time the turtle-ducks had finished their bread. Then he and Kya would 'pick flowers for mommy' and he would have to restrain her from sticking everything she laid hands on in her mouth. This was his secret love affair and he came to adore the short time with Kya when her mother was talking to uncle or at the physician getting check ups.

A month later and Uncle suggested Zuko and Katara go see the fireworks for the summer solstice festival. The waterbender was trepidatious about leaving her child at the palace but Iroh assure her that he would look after Kya and they would "have a splendid time!" If there was one thing Kya liked more than sucking on Zuko's arm, it was getting all the sweet treats Iroh granted her when he watched her. Zuko had to drag Katara away from the palace if they wanted to see the fire works on time. He took her to the top of a hill where an old tree sat. "My mother and I would always watch the fireworks from up here, even Azula sometimes."

The first one sprouted off with a bang and a big orange bloom of sparks. "I wanted to thank you for helping Kya and I. I don't know where we would be if youd hadn't taken us in," Katara said quietly, halfway through the display.

"You're welcome. You don't have to thank me though, Katara. Its a pleasure having you two around." He leaned back on his hands and scooted closer to her. "I really like having you here. I missed you..."

"I missed you too Zuko."

When winter finally came, Kya was crawling and she could reach things now and was wreaking havoc on the palace. Well, not really, but some very important scrolls had gotten soggy as of late. Iroh thought this little crime of Kya's was the most hilarious thing he'd ever heard and roared with laughter when Zuko had told him. Katara was becoming radiant in the cooler months and Zuko maybe sort of felt like he was becoming radiant with her. His heart jumped now whenever he saw her and he had to lace his fingers together behind his back to keep from grabbing her face and kissing her. He felt guilty, like he was taking advantage of an abused woman, a weak situation, but Iroh assure him he was not. Katara cried less and smiled more now, she had even taken to embroidery, a new skill that a maid she had befriended, taught her. She still spoke a lot with Iroh but her orders to check-in with the doctor were obsolete now.

Zuko and Kya started spending even more time together. It wasn't uncommon for a general or advisor to enter the Fire Lord's study to a child overtaken with mad-laughter and chucking her toys around the room. Sometimes she even wacked a visitor with her plush boomerang Sokka had sent from the South Pole. She was a trouble-maker, just like her numb-skull uncle. But Zuko couldn't help but smile when he would look out his study window and see her and her mother sitting in the shade and Kya tugging on Katara's hair. He, Iroh, Katara and Kya all ate dinner together, every night. The little Water Dragon, as Zuko had taken to calling her, was old enough now to sit at the table and feed herself with her fingers but a special booster seat had to be created for her. Whenever Katara wasn't around, Kya was always glued to his side. Actually, the three of them spent most of their time together. Usually this time consisted of sitting in the courtyard, feeding the turtle-ducks or playing with Kya in the nursery. Zuko really, _really _liked how they seemed to create a family. Maybe they were all a little broken, but he still loved them.

Zuko found himself starting to get notions. Notions that maybe he could be Kya's father. Like a real father. And even more aggravating were his growing affections for Katara. Every time he saw her his heart would still pound and wolf-bats would suddenly evolve in his stomach but now... it was different. A warm feeling would sprout up in his chest and never really go away. He felt some kind of physical weight in his heart when he thought about her. But it was a pleasant weight, something he welcomed. And every time she smiled at him, well... he kind of felt like he was on top of the world. It was the simple things that made him love her. The little things like seeing her in the morning, her hair a wild mess or the little smirks she would give him when he was arguing with the servant foreman. And when she would cringe at a new dish she tried at dinner, or the pleasant hum she gave when she tasted chocolate for the first time. He loved her giggles when a turtle-duckling would nip him or the loud belly laughs when Kya would nip him with her two new bottom teeth.

It was the coolest night of the winter and Zuko couldn't find Katara anywhere. He had been watching Kya and when her mother failed to show up for bedtime, Zuko went looking for her. He eventually found her on a balcony, looking out toward the ocean. He stopped in the doorway and watched her, maybe she had simply forgotten the time, but he knew he was wrong when he saw her shoulders shaking. He strode across the room, worried that she might have been hurt somehow. "What's wrong?" He asked, placing a hand on her spine comfortingly. She didn't bother wiping away her tears when she looked up at him.

"I realized Kya will never get to see snow, never get to see her native element. She should have been born on the ice, not in Aang's house. And that's my fault."

"Katara," Zuko sighed, tucking her under his chin. "You have to stop blaming yourself. None of this was your fault. You loved him, you can hardly be blamed for that."

"But I knew it was wrong. I should have left sooner, its my fault I lost my first two babies."

"No," Zuko breathed. He held her until she swayed with weariness. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her through the halls of the palace to his room where he lay her gently on his bed. She looked up at him, searching his face. He smiled at her and shed his robes and then climbed in on the other side of the huge bed. "Just sleep, Katara," he said quietly. He would not crowd her, she could come to him for a warm embrace to sleep in if she needed it, and he had brought her here because he felt she would. Not five minutes later and the waterbender was creeping across the blankets slowly, cuddling up to his bare chest. They fell asleep that way into a peaceful sleep.

However, Kya was not to be deterred. When she realized her daddy was not coming to breakfast (because mommy was usually still asleep) she threw a tantrum, determined to get some answers. Iroh had picked her up and checked in Katara's room first only to find it empty. He had an inkling as to where she was.

Knocking woke them both from their slumber. Katara blushed, even in her half-sleep. Zuko gave her a squeeze and called for whoever was knocking to come in. The waterbender was quick to fall back asleep, unused to waking so early. When the door opened, Iroh was struggling to keep his grip on a wailing Kya. When the little child saw Zuko she grinned and reached her arms out, shouting "Daddy, Daddy!" Katara shot up and stared at her daughter in shock. Iroh seemed a little surprised, but quickly overcame it, unlike his thunderstruck nephew.

"Did she just-" he asked, looking at Katara.

"Yeah... Is- is um, that alright?"

"I think its splendid, here you go!" Iroh boomed happily, plopping Kya down on the bed and swiftly leaving the room. Zuko sat there unmoving as Kya crawled over his lap onto Katara, garbling nonsense.

"Say something," Katara said softly, lifting her daughter into her arms.

"I- yeah. Yeah. She can call me whatever she wants."

"Daddy!" She piped up. Katara smiled, smiled so brightly and genuinely Zuko thought his heart might just break. She was happy.

"Yes, darling?" He asked, his own face reflecting Katara's as he turned towards the child.

"Ampforwakorarwa."

"I understand completely," he chuckled reaching over and patting her head.

* * *

Zuko didn't know when it exactly it happened, but suddenly, they were a family. He was daddy, Katara was mommy and Kya was their daughter. He would often stare out of his personal study's window into the courtyard where his two waterbenders would be at play in the fountain. Katara had been here for nearly a year, winter was upon them and Kya was walking steadily now. His and Katara's relationship had... _changed _somehow over the last few months. They were spending more time together, blushes exchanged constantly and they had taken to holding hands. Sometimes when they were at the dinner table, Zuko would sneak his hand under the table and rest his fingers on her knee, rubbing circles with his thumb. This always made Katara blush and smile bashfully. And when Zuko was stressed, Katara would massage the knots from his muscles, telling him stories of her childhood, or laughing with him over stories of the war. He would often make time in his busy schedule to take Katara to the ocean, just the two of them. These sunset visits to the sea usually resulted in accidental brushes of skin or too-close spaces between their noses. Yes, things with he and Katara were changing and he loved it. Kya was as rambunctious as ever, wreaking havoc around the palace, giggling madly whenever she managed to thieve a cookie from the kitchen. The servants were such pushovers. Except the cook. She was a large woman with frown lines and a constant scowl on her face. She often chased the children from her kitchen with a wooden spoon but they all knew she had a soft spot for kids. Especially Kya. The blue-eyed beauty was something to be reckoned with, especially when she was acting entirely too innocent. But the head cook saw right through that, having to chase her off with the spoon more than any other child in the entire palace. Kya had a affinity for sweets you see. But the cook would always smile and shake her head when she perhaps "didn't see" Kya scoot a stool over and plunge her hand into the cookie jar.

Winter had arrived and with it came chilly rains. Fire people thought this miserable and absolutely the coldest weather they had ever been in in their whole lives. However, Zuko's waterbenders loved it. He would catch Katara bending out in the rain more than occasionally, laughing to herself. Kya would sometimes be allowed to play in the puddles after the rain had stopped but her mother and Zuko were wary of her catching cold.

One evening when a rare winter thunderstorm popped up, he was surprised to see Katara creeping in his room. He was awake, reclining on a fluffy pillow, reading a book by firelight. The room was dim, casting eerie shadows across the floor. "Yes?" He asked, making Katara jump. She spotted him then, on the far side of the room. She walked over to him quickly, sitting down on the cushion next to him. "Katara?"He asked.

"Oh. Yeah. I just uh wanted to see you," she said, seemingly distracted.

"It's way past your bedtime," he scolded with a smirk.

"I could say the same thing," she glowered back.

"I'm the Firelord, I can do whatever I want," he said, lifting his chin and sniffing with an air of dignity. Katara reached over and shoved him, sending him down to one elbow. He looked over at her and grinned when a huge crack of lightning shook the palace and suddenly, Katara was in his lap, clutching at his robes. "Are you scared of thunderstorms?" He chuckled, prying her fingers from his collar. Her face was buried in his chest, refusing to look at him. He pushed her hands down to her sides and then wrapped his arms around her. "I thought you liked the rain, Master Katara," he teased.

"smrfbuffnufsund"

"What?"

"Yes but not the sound," she repeated lifting her head and looking at him. She was very beautiful with the light cast across her face like this. Her skin looked silky soft and Zuko wanted so badly to reach out and touch her cheek.

"That's alright but- lightning can be beautiful. It makes the most amazing glass out of the sand."

"Really?" She asked perking up at this new bit of information. "I'd love to see it."

"Well, the day I learn to generate lightning I'll make you something," he chuckled low in his throat. She gave him a little smile and he felt his heart flip-flop. When had he started loving her? Without warning, their lips were crashing together and lightening cracking outside. His hands gripped her waist and her fingers tangled in his hair. One kiss led to another, and deepened. By the time they came to their senses they were a tangle of limps across the cushions, trying to catch their breath from the unexpected makeout.

"You kissed me," she blurted, searching his smoldering eyes

"No, you kissed me," he said breathily. "But that's ok. I'll just have to repay the favor he smirked leaning down and kissing a line up her neck and across her jaw until he reached her lips again. The kiss broke off and Katara sat up, pushing him backwards and embraced him, tucking her nose in the crook of his neck.

"How long?" She asked quietly. She needed to know how long he'd been in love with her, he wasn't a man to bask in affection and take part in meaningless relationships. And she had felt something binding in the kisses they shared. She had to know.

"Years," he breathed.

* * *

Zuko and Katara were... a couple now. It was strange to the Firelord, greeting her with a peck on the lips and holding hands for the whole world to see. And those stolen kisses in the shadows of the halls were probably his favorite part of their relationship. Everyone was talking about them, servants, civilians, nobles. Surprisingly enough the majority of his people were ecstatic that he had finally found someone. Toph even caught wind of this in Ba Sing Se and sent a letter cracking jokes and asking just what the spirits happened to Aang. That was a day filled with a lot of tears and laughs as Zuko helped Katara write a reply. He held his breath, waiting for Aang to make an appearance at any moment but... he never came.

Everything was perfect. Zuko was drunk on happiness almost all the time. Those agonizing, boring meetings were whizzing by now and never left the Firelord with a bitter temper. Katara started getting up early and joining Kya and Zuko for breakfast. It was actually a very pleasant shock when she showed up the first time. Zuko was leaning across the table, grinning as he told Kya a funny story about eating too many vegetables. The little girl giggled incessantly, completely unaware that her mother was leaning in the doorway watching them. When Zuko spotted him he quit playing with Kya's carrots and stared at Katara, in all her morning glory. He had seen her in the mornings when they traveled but she was... different this time. When he had seen her in years past, her hair was tangled, dark circles under her eyes, yawning as she stirred the morning meal. Her skin was always dull from lack of nutrition and proper sleep. But now... everything was opposite. Her hair hung in loose curls down to her waist, swept over one shoulder. The morning sun gave a healthy, glorious glow to her dark skin. She was magnificent. He swallowed hard and then invited her to come sit with them. She sat in front of the beams of sun, bathed in the rays of Agni's light. He never knew something could be so beautiful washed in his element. He was a little awestruck, until his quiet viewing of his girlfriend was broken by Kya's screams of "Mommy, mommy!" As she nearly bounced out of her booster seat. Everything was perfect.

Things remained perfect for an entire year. Zuko wanted to marry Katara, oh how he wanted to marry her and wake up beside her every morning. He had been hard at work looking for a way he could legally marry her, she was, afterall, still technically married to Aang. After months of siking his scribes on legal documents concerning marriage, they finally found it. The man who found the scroll was young, a new employee of the palace. Zuko could have almost hugged him when the man told him that in the watertribes, if a marriage was not blessed with an animal sacrifice, the union was void. When the Firelord dismissed the scribe, he literally clicked his heels together and hurriedly wrote a letter to his Uncle.

He proposed to her two months later on the shore at sunset. She tackled him into the waves lapping at their feet, crying and laughing at the same time. It was the best day of his life. When the two of them tried to explain their engagement to Kya she just smiled and nodded as if she understood everything they were saying to her two year old face and then ran off to play with her dolls in her dollhouse. A dollhouse in which Zuko had specially made and that was really actually probably large enough for her to walk through without ducking. And of course, when Uncle heard of this new toy, he sent her a matching stable with stuffed komodo rhinos and antelope-goats, along with fake snow that somehow managed to get all over the palace, even in the throne room. He would have to get Uncle back for that.

* * *

Zuko's worst fears came true three and half months later. Aang arrived.

When his meeting was interrupted with news from a nervous messenger that the Avatar was _in his palace _Zuko lit out of the throne room like a man being chased by Koh himself. He gathered Katara quickly, practically shoving Kya into her arms and sending her in a locked room down the hall where he would meet Aang. He felt he could better protect them if they were close and not on the other end of the palace where Aang could outrun him to. Zuko donned his robes in seconds, hoping to look more intimidating. As he led his girls down a hall he noticed tears on Katara's face. He spun around and embraced them both. "Don't worry, everything is going to be fine," he said leaning back and wiping her tears away with his thumbs. She gave him a weak smile. "I love you."

"I love you too."

With that he waved them into the room around the corner and swept off around the bend and faced his former friend.

The Avatar was tall, taller than him, yellow and orange robes swept over one shoulder, staff in hand. When the tattooed man saw the Firelord he gave him an impossibly large smile. Zuko dismissed the servants with a wave of his hand and stopped a few yards away from the man he had wanted to kill for so long. "Hi Zuko!" Aang greeted happily.

"_Firelord_ Zuko," he bit out. The Avatar's grin vanished and his face turned hard.

"I see. So that's how things are going to be between us then. After everything we've been through Firelord Zuko. I can't believe you don't want to be friends."

"You lost that privilege the moment you laid a hand on Katara."

"Exaggerations," he said off-handedly.

"I'm sorry, I was unaware that broken bones were 'exaggerations'." Aang openly glared at him now. There was a long pause.

"Where are they, Firelord?" He asked darkly, clearly tired of small talk.

"I'm not particularly obliged to answer that."

"I hope you realize I can find them on my own, without your help," Aang warned tapping his foot.

"Why do you want to see them? It's not as if you care about them."

"The bra,t" he shrugged, "Can stay with you. I just want Katara."

"No," Zuko snarled.

"She's _my_ wife. She belongs to _me_."

"She _belongs_ to no one." Fire leapt to Zuko's fists and suddenly, he just knew Katara was behind him.

"It's alright, Zuko," she said from behind him. He turned his head so he could see her from the corner of his eye, but never allowing out of his sight.

"There's my sweetie," Aang crooned taking a step towards her. Zuko took a step forwards, only to be stopped by Katara's hand around his. Aang's face darkened and he took his time looking her up and down. Katara shrunk under his gaze and her fiancée was burning. "I see you're getting married. Harlot," he spit when he spotted the necklace around her throat.

"Our marriage was void. You never offered the proper sacrifices."

"So you think you can just run off with other men like the street woman you are. Watertribe slut."

"Shut up," Zuko snarled.

But Aang ignored the warning and gave Katara the darkest glare ever. "Filthy harlot. The Firelord will never pleasure you like I can," he leered. Katara shrunk behind Zuko's shoulder. "Come along now, let's go," he said reaching for her. The flame to sever his arm was already in Zuko's palm when he heard little footsteps behind him. He and Katara whipped around, Kya was toddling towards them, her favorite stuffed komodo-rhino trailing the ground behind her. Katara snagged her daughter up and sat her on the hip farthest from Aang. Katara was suddenly panic-striken, her eyes wide and shining with tears. She shielded Kya by hiding half of her body behind Zuko' shoulder.

"There's the little brat. A waste of flesh." He narrowed his eyes onto the little girl. Little Kya was staring at the strange man with those odd markings on his arms and head. She'd never seen someone like him before. "Hi there, cutie," he said sweetly, addressing her now. "Do you know who I am?" She shook her head shyly. "I'm the Avatar, the greatest man on earth. And do you know who that is?" He said pointing to Katara. The watertribe woman glared at him and turned Kya away from him a little more.

"That's mommy!" She crowed.

"And who is that?" Aang asked pointing to Zuko.

"Daddy!Aang chuckled and looked at Zuko. "That's pretty pathetic Zuko. Lying to a child about her sire." He turned his attention back to Kya. "No you stupid little girl. That's not your dad. I am."

"Enough!" Zuko roared, fire alighting his hands, blue flicking at the base of the flame. Kya was confused and startled by the sudden commotion and started to whimper.

"Oh, look, you've scared the little urchin," Aang crooned. Zuko took a threatning step toward him.

"Leave. Before I kill you where you stand."

"Step aside, Firelord. I've just come to collect what's mine." He reached out like lightening and grabbed Katara's arms, prying Kya from her arms.

"No!" Katara cried holding her child close to her body, wrenching out of his grasp. Kya shrieked in terror and started wailing loudly. It had all happened within the span of a second and Zuko was reaching for Aang's throat when the Avatar was suddenly very, very still. His hands twisted backwards and a sickening grinding sound filled the space around them. Katara's arm was outstretched, her fingers like talons. She set Kya down gently and the little girl clung to her mother's skirts. She reached out her other arm and jerked her wrist upwards. Aang's chest heaved outwards and his feet were suddenly off the ground. His eyes were wide in pain, fear and shock. His arms twisted at odd angles and his airway suddenly collapsed and he couldn't breathe. He had forgotten how powerful she was. His heart was pounding in his chest, every vein and blood vessel in his body screamed with agony, his bones crackling, all on the verge of breaking. His vision swam with black spots and his head pounded. What a pitiful way for him to go. Suddenly he was crashing to the rich stone floor and he could breathe again.

"Get out!" Zuko roared, flame licking at the Avatar's robes. Aang glared at the little family darkly, vowing to end them all one day, as he pulled himself to his feet, panting. He put the flames of his robes out with a wave of his hand and turned and left. Kya was wailing into the back of Katara's knee, clutching her rhino in her tiny hand. When the Avatar was a safe distance away Katara whirled around and grabbed her child into a tight embrace. They were both sobbing, holding onto eachother as if their lives depended on it. As she held her baby like this, she could not help but think of her other children, the ones she never got to meet. Would she have been holding them like this? Alongside Kya as their sire left in a flurry. Zuko knelt next to them and gathered his girls into his arms. He could have lost them today.

* * *

A week passed and there had been no sign of the Avatar coming back for revenge. Zuko was paranoid about it and Katara was pertrified of his return but somehow, they both knew he would not come back because if he did, there would be no hesitation on either of their parts. He would die the second he stepped foot into the royal city. Zuko had made it known that Aang was not to be trusted and he spread the story of Katara's abuse far and wide. Aang would not be allowed to continue to walk in glory and reverence any longer. Everyone would soon know the truth of his power-hungry, abusive true self.

Kya seemed to have completely forgotten the incident by now, dead-set on coercing more toys from Iroh. She jabbered on and on about adding ostrich horses to her play stable now that she had finally gotten to meet the real animals. Katara and Zuko spent most of their evenings with Kya, playing with her dollhouse or stable or various games of hide-and-seek. That was by far her favorite game to play. She was a normal, happy child.

But Katara was far from being un-plagued. Zuko would hear her screams in the middle of the night, and race down the halls to her room where she would say she had suffered another nightmare. Kya however, managed to sleep peacefully through the episodes in her room. They had taken to shutting the door to her room at night, instead of leaving it open. That child was a heavy sleeper. Zuko hated Aang more every night. The nightmares that poisoned Katara's sleep had stopped months earlier but since the Avatar's visit, they had returned with a vengeance. Zuko could count on being woken every night by her cries. It was always the same. He'd be snapped awake and tear out of his room, terrified that an assassin had managed to slip past the guards and into her room. He would stumble across the hall, colliding with at least one armored guard before he reached her door. He would burst in only to find her sitting up, face in hands, sobbing. Then he would climb into bed with her, wrap his arms around her and lay them down to sleep until dawn.

The dreams had become so bad that Katara was no longer getting the proper rest she needed. It had started with dark bags under eyes but had quickly escalated into falling asleep at the breakfast table, in the garden or curled up in a chair watching Kya. She was beyond exhausted. Her skin was no longer a deep, rich brown but a sickly shade of tan. Her eyes were constantly glazed with sleep, the crescents under her eyes a deep purple and she could no longer force herself from bed in the mornings. But the most concerning of all her symptoms was the weight loss. She could no longer rouse herself from sleep long enough to get a good meal in her. She was awake for perhaps four hours at most before she had to retire to her bedchamber for a nap. She had not lost a significant amount of weight, but enough that it was noticeable. Kya was becoming worried now, constantly asking Zuko when mommy would wake up and play with them. He wrote his Uncle for advice only to receive a reply that he would be there in three weeks to help out. But her lack of sleep was only getting worse. Instead of one perhaps two nightmares a night, she was now having upwards of five. It was torture for the Firelord to see his betrothed like this. He had taken to curling up with her when she took her naps, seemingly the only time when Katara could get some real rest was with Zuko molded around her.

Iroh arrived a few weeks later, bearing gifts and tea. He began to have "therapy sessions" with Katara again, giving her a special tea blend that might help her sleep. Kya was absolutely thrilled that her Grandpa Iroh was in the palace. He gifted her with a dozen different stuffed ostrich-horses for her stable and a live-size Polar Bear dog hobby horse. Not to mention all the sweets he snuck her when her mommy and daddy weren't looking.

Iroh had been in the palace for a while now. Katara seemed to be getting better, she slept more soundly (but perhaps that was because Zuko now slept in her bed every night... or the drugs the physician had given her. Zuko would like to think her health's improvement was because of him) and she was gaining her weight back. Things were looking up. However, Zuko still had dreams. No, they were not the waking night terrors Katara suffered from, but they were still frightening. Only occassionaly he had bad dreams, quite rarely actually. In his slumbering mind Aang would take Katara and Kya from him, or sometimes just Katara, leaving Kya at Zuko's feet, screaming as her sire dragged her mother away. Sometimes he dreamed that he was watching as Aang abused Katara... those were the ones that would jolt him out of his sleep. But he could handle the occasional bad dream. Everyone had them at some point.

So now Zuko sat, hunched over paperwork, thinking of everything that had happened in the last week. He remembered Uncle sliping into his office after one of his talks with Katara. He hadn't seen his uncle like this in a long time. Iroh was very, very serious. "Get that girl to a doctor, Zuko. She needs more help than I can offer her. This lack of sleep is destroying her mind and body. Why have you not done so earlier, Nephew?" He sighed, disappointed that Katara's insomnia had gone untreated for this long.

"She refused to go," Zuko had said. "I tried to force her to go, literally dragged that stubborn girl from her bed, but..."

"But what?"

"She panicked. Like she was remembering him or something. She screamed and fought me tooth and nail. She was actually scared, Uncle." Zuko had let his head fall into his awaiting hands. "She thought I was going to hurt her or something. I hate myself for that."

Iroh stroked his beard. "No. I do not think she was frightened by _you. _I believe her exhausted mind tricked her into believing that you were the Avatar. It is not your fault, Nephew. You did not scare her. Her own mind turned on her in that moment."

Zuko gave a small smile to Iroh, feeling the guilt lift from him about the incident. "Thankyou" And then he chuckled. "She left one heck of a mark," he smiled pulling down the collar of his robe to reveal a long, bright red mark inflicted by a stray nail.

Uncle laughed heartily at that.

* * *

Finally, finally, things were getting back to the way they should be. Uncle deemed Katara well enough that he could return to his teashop, encourging her to journal her thoughts and to write him often, not only for advice but as his new niece-in-law. Katara slept through the night now, without Zuko at her side and she was able to return to having breakfast with them and staying awake all day. The royal physician had given her sleeping medicine that she still took at night, but other than that, everything was perfect. Kya was always a cheerful little water whip, brightening everyone's day. Katara and Zuko's wedding was closing in. That coming summer actually. The preparations had already begun and the palace was alive with movement. Kya particularly loved this because it meant that there was so much more mischief she could get into. Zuko actually had to swat her bottom one time for yanking down a veil of delicate fabric. She was most surprised at this, so used to not getting in trouble from her daddy. Her bottom lip had pouted out and she cried, horrendously upset that she had disappointed her father. Zuko felt like the lowest scum on earth. He scooped her up and cuddled her, telling her that he wasn't angry. He knew she still must be disciplined so he made sure to explain again what she had done wrong for the second time, more in length.

Katara also found a bright new affinity for turtle-ducks, what with a new clutch just having hatched on the first day of the month that their wedding would be held. Zuko had even caught her smuggling the family inside the palace with a trail of bread. He had put a stop to that. The last thing everyone needed was to be avoiding turtle-duck poop. Katara had pouted. Actually pouted, sticking her lip out like Kya. It was almost enough for Zuko to retract his orders and let her have the ducks as house pets. Almost.

Katara and Zuko sound down again with Kya the night before the wedding and thoroughly explained to her (again) what would be happening the next day. The little girl with brown curls was ecsatic simply because she knew she would be the most _special_ little girl there because she would get to throw _special_ flowers on a _special_ aisle and get to stand at the front of the courtyard with the other _special_ ladies. And her own mommy would be the _s__pecialist_ and _prettiest_ lady there. But also, she somehow new in her two and half year old mind that something different would take place after tomorrow. She didn't know what it was but it must be good because her mommy and daddy and well, everyone else for the matter, was smiling and laughing all the time.

The wedding was beautiful and momentous. To Kya, she had never seen so many people before, the whole entire world must have been there. She also met lots of new people too. And that was fun. She also thought that her mommy was so very, very beautiful. When Katara had come out of a room after hours of preparation and asked Kya was she thought, her daughter had gasped, her eyes wide and bright with delight as she said "beautiful" with such convinction it brought tears to Katara's eyes.

The waterbending master had not had a chance to see her family before the wedding but her servants and Zuko assured her she would get to mingle with them all evening. The wedding was held at noon, when the sun was highest and Agni was at his most powerful. The sweat rolling down Katara's spine irked her a little but it was ok because this was going to the be the best day of her, second only to Kya's coming into the world.

When Zuko saw her coming down the aisle in a red and gold gown, he was positive she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen and ever would see. They bowed, knelt and spoke at the appropriate times and, just like that, they were married. Zuko was the proudest, happiest man alive, he was sure of it. With very, undignified. un-Fire Lordish way, he wrapped one arm around Katara and hoisted Kya onto his shoulder with the other, holding her in place. The ground shook with the cheers.

Katara wept when her father, Gran-Gran and Sokka embraced her at the same time. She had written them a five page letter a few weeks prior giving them a brief but accurate retelling of what went on with her and Aang and then with she, Kya and Zuko. Toph weaseled her way into the group hug, still short and feisty but she was crying a little too. Katara was actually quite floored when Sokka tucked the fiery little earthbender under his arm and kissed her temple. How long had _that _been going on? Oh well, she'd find out later. Kya decided then would be a good time to find her mother and figure out just who the heck these people she was hugging were.

When Hakoda saw her for the first time, tears welled in his eyes again. She was the spitting image of her mother. The tundra and war-hardened man knelt before the toddler and extended his hand. "I'm Hakoda Kya. I'm your grandpa." Kya was a bit confused at first because she already had a grandpa. Could she have two of them? Was she allowed? Could she have as many as she pleased or what there a limit and just what was the ceiling on how many grandpa's she could have? But then Katara bent over and informed her that this man with line on his face and weird beads in his weird hair was her mommy's daddy and then everything made sense. Next to greet her was a very, _very _crinkly lady. She was something called her gran-gran, whatever the heck that meant. But she liked the lady immediately because Kya soon had a hard candy in her cheek, sucking away and she was very impressed with the candy-giver. She liked candy-givers. Then a man much like the first one introduced himself as Uncle Sokka. She liked him. He didn't even o anything and she knew, oh yes, she knew this would be the one she could cause a lot of trouble with. The lady with very odd green eyes patted her cheek gently and asked how much of a brat she was and then laughed at mommy's sour face and said Kya was "a pretty cute kid."

The whole city celebrated that night and when things finally started to wind down at the palace around midnight, a flurry of maidservants suddenly swept Katara away. She was given a very thorough bath with nice smelling soaps. Her makeup was removed and her hair washed, combed and then clipped into a simply bun. Katara nearly passed out when her ladies in waiting displayed a whole wardrobe full of racy garments that were supposed to pass as clothes. She refused them, her heart pounding and her face burning, opting for her underthings and a robe.

Zuko was a nervous wreck.

There wedding night was as every other wedding night. Zuko was patient and cautious. Katara told him there was no need for such things because she was ok, she was over the Avatar.

Hakoda was infatuated with his little granddaughter. She was much like her uncle actually. He spent a long time with Kya until his sore bones insisted he go to bed. Sokka and Toph stayed up for a another little while with the rambunctious girl until she passed out in the middle of her stuffed rhinos and ostrich horses.

* * *

After a month's visitation by Katara's family, they were all setting sail back to the South-Pole laden with trinkets and furniture galore. Zuko had insisted his wife's family be cared for and on that day Katara saw horrifyingly close resemblances to Iroh in Zuko. Anyways, Sokka and Toph were not going back to the tribe, but were instead going on an adventure together. Katara smiled happily. Their love story would be the kind everyone wrote about in books.

Three months after the wedding everyone was really quite unsurprised that their Firelady was with child. Katara and Zuko simply told Kya that there was a baby in her mother's belly and that the baby would be Kya's very own brother or sister. The little girl didn't know what a brotherorsister was but she knew it would be hers and she liked it. Even weeks into the pregnancy Zuko was still trying to grasp the concept of his child being in Katara's womb. He just couldn't wrap his mind around it. He worried he would be a bad father, but his wife quickly dispelled those thoughts. He thought Katara more beautiful every day. She glowed a little brighter and smiled a little bigger. It was also a shocker when Kya bent water for the first time. They all knew she was a waterbender but they had just been waiting for when. And my, it was a big when. Kya had been very upset about something or other and in her tantrum had sprayed water from a pitcher. She was... startled to say the least. She wasn't quite sure what to make of her new ability. Zuko had scooped her up, so very proud of her.

Things flew by after that. Somewhere between the time of the wedding and his child's birth, a puma-cat kitten had taken up residence in the palace, a basket of wolfdogs "mysteriously" appeared on their doorstep with a note that just stunk of Uncle. Also, another animal addition had been added to the stables, an animal that also reeked of Uncle. A pony. A blasted pony. Zuko didn't think something like this odd creature even existed but leave it to "an unnamed and "mysterious" buyer" to find the hoofed animal. No surprise there. Oh, And it also appeared with an old man called Iroh by it's side, a big pink bow on its neck on Kya's third birthday. However, Zuko must admit... Kya was a natural rider.

Life was perfect.

Actually even better nine months in the making when they welcome a son with golden eyes and dark skin into the family.

And then another two years later, this time a boy with blue eyes and pale skin.

And then a daughter that looked just like Azula.

And then another boy four years later with hazel eyes and skin that balanced perfectly between Katara and Zuko's. He was the most uncanny mixture of them both.

And everything was perfect.

* * *

**AN: Ughhh that was a bear to write. And it was so rushed at the end! blah! why do all my oneshots end up like that!? oh wait I know! because im a lazy bum who wants things finished! However. I think I can build off this with some drabbles from Kya's POV. that might be fun. hoped you liked it! tell me what you thought! :)**


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